


Heat Stroke & Frostbite

by Griselda_Gimpel



Series: Rebuilding Ishval [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Canon - Manga, Canon Compliant, Canon Continuation, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Slash, Ishbal | Ishval, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Post-Promised Day, Slash, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 04:40:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15987824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griselda_Gimpel/pseuds/Griselda_Gimpel
Summary: Scar & Miles work to rebuild Ishval.





	Heat Stroke & Frostbite

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the beginning of the Rebuilding Ishval series. When I started writing this, I hadn't expected it to be so long. While the fan fics in the series do build on each other, I made an effort to recap events from previous fan fics with each addition to the series. I hope you enjoy.

                Major Miles and Scar were touring the barren, empty space that was to become New Ishval. There had been buildings there, before, but all that was left was wreckage and half crumbling walls. The debris was being cleared away, but the old wasn’t being discarded. Alchemy was about reconstruction just much as deconstruction. The old remnants being removed would become the new city that was being built in the heart of the region.

                It was looking to be a hot day, and only the lightest of breezes ruffled the light robes that Scar had taken to wearing again. Miles, by contrast, was clad in the standard issue Briggs military uniform, which was made from a thicker material.

                “The temple is going to go there,” Miles said pointing and casting a look at a Scar.            

                “Right,” said Scar, “It’ll be next to the Xiao Mei Xingese Cultural Center.”

                Miles ignored the throbbing headache that was coming on and tried to remember what his grandfather had told him about the Ishvalan religion. It really was difficult to think, but Miles grit his teeth and forced himself to recall. He was a Briggs soldier, and the Major General regularly made her soldiers practice falling through thin ice so they would be prepared to save themselves if it happened for real. When you felt the ice crack, you resisted the urge to panic and stuck your arms out instead. That way you wouldn’t go under and could drag yourself out. There was no ice in the Ishval region, but Miles was hardly going to let a headache slow him down.

                “Are you going to use alchemy to build the temple?” Miles finally asked. He vaguely recalled something about prohibitions against alchemy.

                Scar coughed. “My master said that if I want to use alchemy to build the temple, he expects me to write scripture presenting the argument that alchemy is holy in the eyes of Ishvala.” Scar looked down. “He says that he’s either going to have it added to the official canon or make me rewrite it.”

                “You’ll have to finally pick out your new name, then,” Miles said, “unless you want it to be the First Book of Scar.”

                Scar scowled. “First I have to decide what to write.”

                The memorial was planned for the center of town. As the sun rose higher in the sky, nearly noon, Miles and Scar approached the location where it would stand.

                “How are the submissions going?” Miles asked Scar.

                “Only ten designs so far, but it’s still early.”

                Miles subconsciously scanned the area, looking for something to sit down on. His muscles felt weak. They felt oddly weak, in fact. He usually felt stronger when he came down from Mt. Briggs because there was so much more oxygen in the air.

                This had been a life saver when he’d first come to Ft. Briggs. He had started out as a scout after Basic, and to become a scout, he’d had to steal a sock – just the one – from the enemy encampment to the north. At the time, that had meant decreasing elevation quite a bit, and Miles had found he could move so much faster after his basic training up at Ft. Briggs.

                Scar reached down with both hands and scooped up a handful of sand. Mile was tempted to ask him what he was doing, but he didn’t want to dawdle any longer than they had to.

                The two men moved on.

                “The hospital’s going to go over there,” Miles started to say before a fit of dizziness came over him. He tried to find his balance. He was a Briggs soldier, and Briggs soldiers were tough. The Major General had made him fight a grizzly bear, which meant that first he’d had to find a grizzly bear. Since the Major General had arrived at Briggs and instituted her training regime, the grizzlies on the mountain had started giving humans a wide berth.

                “Here,” Scar said, interrupting Miles’ thoughts. He thrust a cup of water into Miles hands, and Miles took a big, grateful gulp. He looked at the cup after he emptied it and saw that it was made of sandstone.

                Scar crouched down and touched the ground, and Miles suddenly found himself with a sandstone arch above his head, shading him from the blazing sun.

                “Didn’t that woman teach you anything about surviving the elements?” Scar demanded.

                “Of course,” Miles said. That was the first thing Briggs soldiers got drilled into their heads. He began to repeat his training from memory. “Wear several layers of clothing. Make sure you ears are covered. If your skin starts to itch or sting or burn or feel like ‘pins and needles’, it means you’re starting to get frostbite and need to address it. Don’t stay out past the allotted time; a dead soldier can’t pull his own weight.”

                “You need to rehydrate,” Scar said. “Sit down.”

                Mile sat down and found himself sitting on a big pile of ice cubes. They were melting quickly, but there were a lot of them. Scar placed his hands over Miles’ cup, and when he removed them, it was full of water again.

                “Thanks,” Miles said, taking another sip.

                “It’s nothing,” Scar insisted. “There’s plenty of hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere.”

                “You should put that in your scripture,” Mile said.

                Scar looked surprised and then nodded.

                “I think I will.”


End file.
